Learning to Breathe
by miss-conception101
Summary: He's a succesful businessman,owns a luxurious penthouse,has a lovely girlfriend,plus millions of dollars to his bank account;Draco Malfoy has it all. Or so it seems...
1. one

Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me in any way. You all know who owns them... :)

Author's Note: Heyz, just a lil note to a few of my reviewers (dscvrE and SciFi129); thx a lot for reviewing!! I'm glad u liked it so far :) oh and thx to Catmint for telling about my spelling mistake on Voldie.. how embarrassing :P I'm going to take the old chapter out and put a new one in, due to spelling mistakes and change of storyline. The story's still the same, just have to rearrange it a bit. Thx once again! Keep reviewing k? :)

Learning to Breathe

xoxoxo

"Are you absolutely, positively sure about this?" asked a very distraught Draco Malfoy, who was reacting to the news that was just weighed upon him like a big stack of books.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Mr. Malfoy…"

Scratch that. Make it a big stack of _really heavy_ books. Like say... a few hundred copies of 'Hogwarts: A History'.

Draco felt a slight tug at his heart and felt that uneasy feeling he always feels when he receives bad news.

Draco, who was seated on the opposite side of the doctor, slumped further into his seat as the realization finally hit him. For the first time in his 22 years of life, he felt helpless and afraid. '_This is not happening…this can't be happening…'._He felt much put out because of this and wondered how he had gotten into this current miserable situation of hisThere weren't even any signs that something like this would happen to him… His family history didn't record anything like this in any of his family members before him, so it can't be the bloodline… '_I guess it's just my luck_…'

He had already been to St. Mungo's, the wizarding hospital in his world, but the healer he saw told him to try one of the muggle hospitals instead, seeing as they seem to have more experience in Draco's problem. According to the healer, wizards rarely come across this situation, even the half wizards. It normally only occurs in muggles, or wizards with muggle parentage on both sides. That's why it seemed very curious to both Draco and the healer because he was a pureblood. One of the purest, in fact.

So, out of curiosity and a need for painkillers, he went up to London, the muggle city, and approached a doctor. At first he thought it was just a mild case of headaches and pains, caused by lots of late nights at the office and sitting up in bed with the laptop, working on documents and important business presentations. But lately, the pains and headaches had gotten a lot worse than before, and he thought that he would just drop by St. Mungo's and get some pills and prescriptions.

He never would've thought that this would happen to him, ever. In many people's opinions, he is a very healthy and happy young man. He works out frequently in his private gym, which he had set up in his pent house, a double-storey apartment on the highest floor, in an exquisite apartment in London which only people with lifestyles of the rich and the famous can afford to live in. He owns a world- renowned business firm, which is highly sought after by muggle businessmen and wizards from all over the world, all hoping to strike business deals with the famous Draco Malfoy. He also holds a lot of shares in the stock market and earns more money a year than the Minister for Magic himself.

Anyone who has never met Draco Malfoy or heard about him before all the fame from his business ventures never would've thought that just a few years ago, he was still the heir of Lucius Malfoy; one of the wizarding world's most powerful and feared men of all time.

He was a death eater, and was rumored to be on the high ranks of Lord Voldemort, the self-declared King of the World. Death Eaters were the men behind the dark cloaks, followers of Lord Voldemort. Lucius was a horrible man, and he brought Draco up to be just like him; cold, unkind and a traitor.

Draco was taught not to feel for anyone else besides himself, and to worship the despicable Lord Voldemort. He was to become a death eater just like his father and was constantly abused by him during their 'training' sessions back when he was still a teenager. His mother, Narcissa, learned a long time ago that there was no pleasing Lucius, so she always obeyed his every order, fearing the abuse she would get otherwise. She never made any objections or spoke up when Draco got hit, even if she did pain her a little to see her son in pain.

So Draco grew up in an unfeeling environment, where no emotion was to be shown to one another, and his whole world revolved around death and destruction, and Voldemort and death eaters.

It wasn't until his a few days before his 17th birthday that he finally chose to speak out about his problems and the dark future he was to face.

_**/Flashback/**_

_Draco was absent-mindedly walking down the hallway, not knowing where he was going, when he bumped into someone and literally knocked the person down. He was skipping class because he had too much on his mind, what with his 17th birthday being only two weeks away. _

"_Ow!" he heard a shriek and a loud thud and he looked down to find Hermione Granger on the floor, piles of books and parchments all scattered out around her. _

"_Sorry…" he mumbled, and was about to walk away when he caught a glimpse of her face. Her long dark brown hair was spilling out over her shoulders. They weren't bushy like before anymore. _

'_She must have used some sort of muggle concoction on them or something…' Draco thought as he looked at her. _

_Instead of being bushy and big like last time, her hair was now wavy, and looked like soft curls which framed her face perfectly, bringing out the brightness in her cinnamon colored eyes. Or was it because there were tears in her eyes? He looked closely at her face and saw that it was tear-streaked and had a pink tinge to it. _

_Draco's heart skipped a beat at that moment and he found himself stepping forward to help her up. He really hadn't meant to make her cry._

"_Look, I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to bump into you like that… I know you might think that that's a complete joke, but really… I didn't mean it. I just had a lot on my mind and I wasn't watching where I was going…" Draco stuttered incoherently, trying to explain himself to her, while kneeling down to pick up her books and parchment, not looking her in the eye._

_Damn, he hated it when someone was able to make him feel all flustered and flushed. _

_Hermione laughed a little, though he could still see the sadness in her eyes, which were _

_bright with tears just a few moments ago. _

"_It's quite alright really, I wasn't too focused on my steps either" replied Hermione, offering Draco a small smile as she bent down to help him with her stuff. _

_Draco chanced a look at her and felt relief wash over him when he saw her smile. He was curious as to how she did that; tearful one moment, and cheerful the next. A year ago, he never would have bothered. He didn't really care for anyone else other than himself. He wasn't supposed to. His father had made sure of that ever since he was old enough to speak. _

_This year though, this year was different. This year, when he turns 17, his whole life would change. This was the year that would make out his whole future, depending on the path he would choose to take. _

_If he was to choose the path that was already carefully laid out for him by his father, which would be to attend the ceremony that would gain him a Dark Mark by Voldermort in two weeks time, his life would be full of misery and death and despair… _

_He had never liked the life he was born into, not at all actually. All he ever really wanted was a normal family, a family that cared for one another and loved each other. He had never had the chance to experience love from anyone before, given that his parents were Lucius and Narcissa. _

_He was always envious of the other kids at Hogwarts who had normal, loving parents. _

_He was especially envious of Harry Potter, the famous boy who survived Voldemort's clutches time and time again. Draco was jealous of the fact that Harry's parents had sacrificed themselves for him, when his own parents would rather sacrifice him to Voldermort for their own well-being._

_The other path is, of course, to join the Light side; Dumbledore's and Harry's side._

_Draco had grown up a lot over the years, finally realizing that he doesn't want to end up being like his father. He had learned to despise Lucius after being abused by him time and time again, mentally and physically. _

_Lucius had high expectations from Draco; 110 from all of his grades at school, catching the Snitch in every Quidditch game he played, and just about everything else that Draco did had to be exactly the way he wanted it to be, or else._

_Draco had had a tough time keeping up to Lucius' standards, and had to face many punishments for failing to do so. He had been hit by many of his father's spells and hexes over the years, occasionally being whipped or slapped as well. While all this was happening, his mother, Narcissa just stood by her husband's side, not expressing any signs of emotion or pain that would normally cause a mother when witnessing her son being tortured._

_The constant abuse by Lucius and the ignorance from his mother had caused Draco a lot of pain, bruising him deeply on the inside just as much as it had bruised him on the outside. _

"_Are you alright?" Hermione was looking at him with just a hint of worry in her eyes, like she actually cared if he was alright. _

_Draco snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at her. He blinked at her as he tried to process what she just asked him. He was a little off track that day._

"_It's just that you seemed a little lost back there"_

_He picked up the last roll of parchment on the floor and placed the stack of books and stationary onto her hands. "I'm fine… By the way… why aren't you in class? Isn't it Potions now?"_

"_I... I was just... I excused myself to the lavatory..." Hermione replied, looking unsure of herself and a little frown creased her forehead._

"_And Snape let you?" _

"_I told him it was an emergency…" she looked a little flushed and Draco thought he saw her tearing up again. _

_Oh no. This was bad. He tried to think of some way to comfort her but, being who he was, having no experience in this field because he had never consoled anyone before, Draco just stood there not knowing what to do._

_Hermione looked up at him again and tried to cover up quickly. "If there's nothing else, I would like to get back to class now" _

_She made to walk past him and stopped a few feet short from one of the moving staircases_

_that would lead up to Gryffindor Tower._

_Draco continued to stand rooted to the spot on the hallway. He didn't know what had_

_gotten into him that day, but he felt compelled to find out what was going on with her. _

_Perhaps it was because of the fact that he was going to turn 17 and his whole life was_

_about to drastically change. Or maybe it was just that he had gotten a lot wiser and his_

_whole outlook and perspective on muggles and Dumbledore and everyone on the Light_

_side had changed; either one, he didn't know, but he knew that he was better than what_

_everyone made him out to be. He was not his father and never will be._

"_Granger… wait up" He jogged up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. That move_

_surprised Draco himself just as much as it surprised Hermione._

_She looked shocked that he had actually made contact with her, knowing that just a year_

_ago, he would have called her a Mudblood at sight. He quickly removed his hand from_

_her and shoved it into his pocket, looking embarrassed._

_Hermione was starting to feel intimidated by him all over again. They used to have a lot_

_of encounters like this where he would call her names and start insulting her_

_and all her friends to her face._

"_What do you want Malfoy? I'm going to be even later for class than I already am…"_

_Draco smiled slightly and chuckled to himself. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what the joke was. _

"_I'm sorry, it's just that, I thought you might want to know, boy, you must really have a lot on your mind-"_

"_Just spit it out, Malfoy. What are you trying to say?" Hermione tried not to break out into giggles herself as she watched Draco struggling to compose himself._

_He took a breath and finally calmed down. "Snape's classroom is down there" he pointed towards the other end of the hallway that led to the cold and dingy Potions classroom. _

"_You know, the dungeons?"_

_Hermione blushed a deep shade of pink, almost crimson even. She looked down at her_

_feet and frowned at them. She hated being embarrassed by him, and hated it even_

_more when she couldn't think of a good line to retaliate to him on the spot._

_She thought hard for a moment before looking up again, looking defeated and worn out._

_Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and she looked like she could use some lying_

_down._

_She let out a tired sigh and spoke while looking down the hallway, a faraway look in her_

_eyes._

"_Okay, you caught me… I'm cutting class… I wanted to go up to my dorm…"_

"_Why?" asked Draco incredulously._

_In all of his years at Hogwarts, Draco had never once heard of Hermione Granger, of_

_all people, to cut class before, and especially not a Potions class. He was really curious_

_then, but he felt that he would intimidate her too much if he stated that out loud to her_

_right then and there._

_The last thing he wanted to happen was for her to burst out crying right in front of him_

_and it would be his entire fault. That was one of the things that had changed about him_

_ever since his father escaped from Azkaban prison the summer before his 6th year._

_He didn't want to be the mean and evil guy anymore. He didn't enjoy hurting others_

_anymore and felt guilty when he looked back to the times when he had hurt so many_

_people, namely people like Hermione, so many times before. His father had shown him_

_that himself, believe it or not. Lucius had brought out the good side in Draco, the side_

_where he despised all the evil fuckers like his father, the death eaters , and Voldemort._

_Just thinking about them made him heat up._

_A tear trickled down Hermione's cheek not long after his question. Draco's heart did that_

_skipping thing again and he immediately ceased all other thoughts. _

"_I'm sorry…" he blurted out, taking a step back. He didn't know what to do or what to_

_say; he had no clue about what was wrong with her and felt completely useless as a guy_

_at that point._

_Hermione shook her head furiously, wiping the tear away._

"_It's not your fault" she managed to choke out, her voice trembling as she spoke. _

_She took a few shaky breaths and tried to speak again, but her tears finally gave in and_

_she sank to the ground and buried her head in her hands._


	2. two

A/N: heya... i just wanted to say thank u to all who reviewed.. im glad u like it! oh and sorry bout the cliffhanger.. ahah. Enjoy

Keep the reviews coming!    
ive reposted this chapter.. I've added some extra scenes to it. Reread! ) (In case u didn't catch them before)

Learning to Breathe 

Where we left off:

"_I'm sorry…" he blurted out, taking a step back. He didn't know what to do or what to_

_say; he had no clue about what was wrong with her and felt completely useless as a guy_

_at that point._

_Hermione shook her head furiously, wiping the tear away._

"_It's not your fault" she managed to choke out, her voice trembling as she spoke. _

_She took a few shaky breaths and tried to speak again, but her tears finally gave in and_

_she sank to the ground and buried her head in her hands._

Chapter 2

_xoxoxo_

**_/Flashback/(still)_**

_For the longest while, he just stood there and stared at her depressed form on the floor,_

_shaking uncontrollably as she cried. She looked so vulnerable and fragile. He had_

_never seen her in this state before, and it scared him a little as he watched her. _

_He wondered what possibly could have happened that hurt her so bad. A fight with her friends, perhaps? A grade lower than 95 on a test? The possibilities were endless... but Draco had a feeling that it wasn't something trivial. _

_He didn't know why, but at that time, he felt like a loser. He had just managed to make_

_Hermione cry without even actually doing anything. And to think that all those years_

_before, he spent so much time thinking up insults and lines to hurt her, and how he would_

_gloat about it afterwards to anyone who will listen. To the more immature Draco back_

_then, it was an accomplishment. Right now though, he just wanted her to stop crying._

_Honestly, he would give anything for her to stop. Even though he would never admit it._

_And so, for lack of a better plan, he sat down on the floor next to her. He leaned against_

_the cool stone wall and sighed as he looked at her again. _

_She seemed to have calmed down a bit, and after a while more, she finally lifted her head_

_from her hands. Draco could see that her tears have dried, but he knew that just one_

_wrong word or sentence could make her fill the pail up again. He had to be very careful_

_with what he said or did._

_When Hermione saw that Draco was still there, what's more sitting on the floor next to_

_her, she could not help but feel grateful. She pulled herself up from her hunched over_

_position from while she was crying and leaned back against the wall, just like Draco did._

_The two of them just sat there against the wall, next to each other for a long time, while_

_the other 7th year Slytherins and Gryffindors were having double Potions. That was the_

_first time after knowing each other for seven years, and hating each other, that they had_

_ever just sat together in comfortable silence and not have anything spiteful to say to each_

_other._

_They had hardly exchanged a word over the past year and a half since his_

_father was captured(and escaped), and this was the first time they actually crossed one_

_another's paths since then. Draco had been awfully quiet lately, thinking about what he_

_really wanted to do with his life. He had also realized how much he hated his father and_

_developed a strong desire to break free from him._

_Of course, nobody knew about it. Not yet. He didn't tell anyone about this, because_

_obviously, there was no one he could trust. No one in Slytherin could be trusted, as far as_

_he was concerned, and he didn't have any friends in any of the other houses as well, so,_

_he was all alone._

_And besides, he was Draco Malfoy, the almighty and powerful prince of Slytherin House. Nobody expected him to actually spill his guts out about his little family crisis to anyone. _

_Crabbe and Goyle, his so-called sidekicks were merely idiotic goons who laughed at Draco's jokes(and they didn't even understand the jokes most of the time!) and stood on either side of him like his loyal not-so-little bouncers. They used to follow him around day-in and day-out, and quite honestly, Draco was getting quite tired of the not too bright hugesome. They finally stopped walking in Draco's tracks beginning of the school year, when Draco desperately needed the time to just stalk away on his own and do some serious revelations on his past, present and future._

_He told them off that night, before the start of term feast. He told them not to be in his presence ever again and stormed off away from the throng of students headed to the Great Hall. He didn't know where he was headed but he ended up in the Library. Lucky for him, everyone else was at the Great Hall, feasting. Not even the nerdiest of bookworms would go to the Library when they could be at the start of term feast._

_But there he was, at the library, all alone in the dark. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Being alone in the dark, I mean. At least it was better than being alone in the dark with his father..._

_They were just sitting there for what seemed like a long time; well, for the whole of_

_Double Potions, anyway. It was kind of amazing to see the two (former) enemies sitting_

_side by side, no animosity between them whatsoever. _

_They were both in their own worlds, consumed in their own thoughts. Draco had his impending birthday clouding his mind like a storm waiting to happen and Hermione had her own problems… _

_As much as he wanted to find out what, Draco kept his questions to himself. He knew that_

_if she really needed to talk about it, she would come right out and say it, if not to him;_

'_What am I thinking… she obviously won't be telling me, of all people…' ; then to her_

_friends or parents or whomever. _

_Draco closed his eyes and images came flooding through his mind. Memories, dark_

_memories of his life at home with his parents flashed behind his closed lids like a_

_rollercoaster ride. He had too much going on… there was such an incredible weight on_

_his shoulders, and he felt like he was strenuously trying to lift a really heavy dumbbell_

_and keep it above his head forever. He could just buckle underneath at any time, and_

_drop down and never get up again._

_Lucius had been more abusive than ever when he came back to Malfoy Manor that night._

_It was a week before the start of the term at Hogwarts began and Draco had been_

_sleeping in his room. Lucius had been like a mad man let loose and had pulled Draco out_

_of his room, grabbing him by his shirt collar with much force. Narcissa had stood there_

_by the doorway of the master bedroom, looking slightly fearful of Lucius' scary state._

_The death eaters had all broken out of Azkaban just a month after their capture. The wizarding community went berserk at the news and everything went haywire. Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge had been chaotic at the time, scrambling around town, trying to calm people down and convince them of their safety._

_Albus Dumbledore had been informed of the breakout as well of course, and went straight to see to it that term break for Hogwarts ended early this time around and letters were immediately given out to each and every student the next morning. Professor Dumbledore had chosen to have his students back at Hogwarts as soon as possible to ensure their safety. As long as they were in Hogwarts, nothing could happen to them and no death eaters could get to them. _

_While all this was happening, Draco was at home in Malfoy Manor, trying his very best to stay strong while facing his father's rage. Lucius had been in a deadly mood the night before and was very keen on keeping Draco on track with his death eater training after his month-long absence. _

"_You will never get anywhere if you don't have power" raged Lucius as he hit Draco with another spell. _

_Draco was blown away by the force of the spell and flew back to the wall, hitting against it hard on his back. He let out a moan of pain as he hit the floor, and hardly had time to gather himself before his maniacal father let out another spell in his direction. Draco fell to the ground again, his lip bleeding._

"_Get up. You can't let your guard down for even a moment. I did not bring you up to be a weakling. I taught you to be a death eater. You are to serve the Dark Lord and stand by his side. You are to become the Dark Lord's right-hand man. Now get up and face the pain like a man" _

_Draco pushed himself up off the floor and tried to steady himself as he got up shakily. He could feel the hate and anger building up inside him as he looked up at his father. He did not want to live the life he was in anymore. He felt cursed and the hatred he felt towards his father was firing up inside him._

_Lucius struck his wand yet again and shot it at Draco, who had taken a deep breath of air as he prepared for the spell that was hurtling towards him._

_As the spell hit him, Draco squeezed his eyes shut and struggled to stay on his feet. The pain caused by the spell was unbearable. Being hit three times in a row by a powerful Death Eater was enough to put a person in a state where they couldn't think straight or feel anything else but pain anymore for a while. _

_His mother came into his room the next morning to wake him up after she received the letter from Dumbledore. Lucius had already gone back into hiding right after Draco's 'training' session the night before. He had returned to serve his Dark Lord and no doubt plotting revenge along with all the other Death Eaters. _

_He woke up aching all over. He had bruises everywhere on his body and his lip was sore. _

_Narcissa looked at him with the slightest sign of pity in her eyes and helped Draco up. _

"_Dumbledore sent a letter this morning" she said softly while brushing away some blond strands away from his eyes. _

_Draco looked away from her and stared at a spot somewhere to the left of her face. He didn't understand her very well. Sometimes , like times like these, she would act like she actually cared about him. Other times, especially when Lucius was around, she would just … not do anything. She didn't protest or stand up for her own son. Though sometimes one couldn't really blame her for being a bad mother. Having Lucius as a husband was already bad enough, he supposed. Narcissa cared a lot about social standards. Almost as much as Lucius. _

_She gently touched his swollen lip and he winced a little. She took out her wand and muttered a spell as she pointed it to Draco. A soft bluish glow emitted from the tip of her wand and in an instant, Draco's bruises and torn lip were not visible anymore. _

_Draco looked down at himself and was surprised to find his body bruise-free. He lifted his right hand and reached to touch his left arm where a big blue-black was just a few seconds ago. Pain shot through him and he quickly pulled his hand away. _

_He looked up at his mother and stated "It still hurts"_

"_Why of course it still hurts, the damage is still there, Draco. That was just a cover-up spell… it wont heal your pains, it just covers them up." Narcissa exclaimed, looking satisfied with her little spell. She had always cared more about looks and status than anything else. _

"_You can't go walking around Hogwarts today looking like that, can you now?_

_We wouldn't want to stir up any unwanted attention…" she said, her voice dropping down to a whisper, only barely audible._

_For a moment, Draco thought that his mother had finally lost it. Finally gone cuckoo after all those years with Lucius and his wacky family. But Draco wasn't slow when it came to the common sense department, and he had already dismissed that theory after he thought it over again. He remembered that she had said that Dumbledore sent a letter, so it must be that school's starting early this term. _

_Draco looked at his mother again and asked "So the letter from Dumbledore said to return to Hogwarts today?"_

_Narcissa nodded and got up from his bed. "Wash up and get dressed quickly. You'll have to be at Platform 9 ¾ by 3 o'clock this afternoon. You're going to have to go to the station alone today, I'm afraid. I have some important issues to deal with…"_

_And with that, she left the room and walked down the stairs, heels clicking as she stepped down the marble floors. _


	3. three

**A/N: **once again, thx for all the reviews! I really appreciate them ) keep em comin! Oh and pls pls pls read my profile.. ive gots some stuff I want u guys to read.. it's important! Thanx!

Learning to Breathe

Chapter 3

xoxoxo

Hermione stole glances at Draco who was sitting beside her on the floor. He had his eyes closed and seemed to be having a bad dream. At least to Hermione it looked like he was having a bad dream. He looked like he was incredibly pissed off about something and he seemed to be in pain. He was practically frowning with his eyes closed and flinching every once in a while. It was a pretty funny sight. But weird, too. She contemplated on whether she should wake him or not. Her curiosity got the better of her; she turned to face him fully and softly called out his name.

"Draco?"

No answer.

She spoke a little louder. "Draco, wake up"

Still no answer.

Hermione stuck out her index finger and poked his arm, hard.

Draco's eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet, looking around furiously as he reached into his robes for his wand and pointed it, poised and ready to fire at whoever was attacking him.

"That went well" Hermione said, still sitting on the floor, cross-legged and looking up at his tall lean figure, amused at his sudden reaction.

He turned around and looked down at her, a confused look on his face. Just a moment later, Hermione burst out laughing and Draco soon followed suit. The both of them were laughing so hard, they had to hold the wall for support.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" she choked out, still laughing in between.

Draco was very embarrassed by this incident, but you could hardly tell because his cheeks were already slightly pink from laughing so hard. Luckily for him, no one else was around.

A few minutes later, their laughter finally died down and they were sitting against the wall again, this time facing each other. Hermione looked much better now than she did before they started laughing at Draco. He was kind of glad that she didn't look like she was going to start crying again anytime soon because it would just feel awkward again. Draco himself felt much better as well, and for the first time in a long time, he actually really laughed, and he had to admit that it felt good. Even if they _were_ laughing at him.

After a moment of silence, Draco decided that it would be safe to try and make conversation with her.

"So… you're feeling better?" He asked gently, afraid that he might make her cry again.

A flicker of emotion shone in her eyes for a moment, but to his relief, died down a second later.

"Yes, much better…" She gave him a small but genuine smile when he turned to look at her.

There was a long pause before Hermione spoke up again, and this time, she turned to face him and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Look, I'm really sorry about what happened today… I didn't mean to drag you into this; you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time… and you're missing Potions because of me… I promise I'll explain everything to Professor Snape about this, I'll come up with a good excuse, I swear-"

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's no big deal..." Draco cut her off before she went hysterical. "I was cutting class too, honest. I needed to get away from all the work for a while…"

Hermione looked somewhat relieved after he said that, and she looked down the hallway to check if anyone was there. Empty and quiet all the way down to the dungeons. Everyone else was in class, doing what they were supposed to do.

She turned back again and slumped against the wall, letting out a heavy sigh. It looked like she still had a cloud over her head, even though he had managed to make her forget all about her troubles for a moment. She still couldn't believe that she was actually missing Potions and was sitting there next to Draco Malfoy of all people.

And the weird thing is, they're not biting each other's heads off! Or perhaps not yet…

Draco decided then and there that if he really wanted to know what was up with her, he was going to have to ask her eventually, so instead of delaying it some more, he sucked up the courage to finally ask her.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked, waiting to see her reaction.

"… sure, go ahead" came her reply, still calm and tear-free.

That was a good sign, so he went on ahead, just like she said.

"Why were you crying?" he asked softly, afraid that a harsher or louder tone might provoke her again.

….

This was all very new to Draco. The part where he was being all sensitive and actually caring about another person's feelings. He didn't know what to make of it, but he decided that it was a start to something new and it wouldn't hurt to be a little less than evil once in a while. In fact, it was a great start to not being Lucius Malfoy. His father couldn't care less about anyone else's feelings but his own.

There was a long pause before any answer came from Hermione. She knew that he would ask her that question sooner or later, and even though she didn't feel like telling anyone about it just yet, she felt like she owed it to him for staying with her and for being so nice to her. That was the first time she actually felt grateful to Draco Malfoy for anything in the whole of their 6 and a half years in Hogwarts so far.

She could tell that something happened to him over the summer ever since his father got sent to Azkaban, but she didn't know what, exactly. Whatever it was, it changed him as a person; everything from the way he talked to her, to the way he'd been walking around alone lately, without his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, looking lost in thought all the time. He'd been missing from a lot his lessons, often not showing up for class without a particular reason. He didn't even seem to care about what people say and think about him anymore.

She could feel that he was looking at her intently; practically burning a hole in her face with his blue-grey icy eyes as he continued to stare at her, waiting expectantly for her answer. When he saw that she felt uncomfortable at his gaze, he looked away to the ground, concentrating on the floor instead.

Hermione finally concluded that he deserved to know, after staying by her side even as she mysteriously broke down in the middle of the hallway and cried her heart out.

'He must have been pretty taken aback.. .' she thought, trying to imagine the situation he was in earlier.

Hermione spoke quietly "It's my mother…"

Draco switched his attention back to her and listened intently as she spoke.

"She had liver failure… and has to undergo a liver transplant…"

He knew about the strange ways that muggles use in hospitals for certain types of illnesses and diseases. He had read about muggle operations that they perform in their hospitals and procedures of doctors in books. He read a lot. Reading always took his mind off of his father and things. It was one of his favorite pastimes, one that nobody knew about because everyone thought of him as an evil soon-to-be death eater, and death eaters certainly had to have more pressing matters to deal with and dark meetings to attend than to sit around and read books.

"She needs to find a compatible donor or they won't be able to start the operation…" Hermione stared straight ahead, biting back the emotion in her voice.

She was tired and worn out, and didn't feel like crying all over again. So she kept hold of herself and continued, without bursting into tears.

"She's waiting... we're all still waiting for an available organ that will match hers"

Draco looked at her closely. She wasn't crying, but she looked really sad.

"When will she get it?"

Hermione sat up straight and breathed in a deep breath of air. He waited patiently for her to gather herself before talking again.

"There are more than 80,000 people waiting for organs. And if they finally get a hold of one, they have to make sure that it is compatible to the patient, or the procedure might end up fatal. The vast majority of patients die while waiting…." She said that all in one shot, her voice a little shaky.

He was shocked to hear that. He never knew that there were so many people out there, suffering from chronic diseases and such.

'Their lives might just be as miserable as mine…' He thought to himself, sympathy slowly and steadily creeping its way up to him. That was another new emotion to him.

Or rather, his life might just be as miserable as theirs.

"I'm really sorry to hear that." Draco said, more sincerely than he had ever been to anyone about anything in his life so far.

He could only imagine the agony she must have been going through, waiting anxiously day after day for any news of a donor, and knowing that her mother might die waiting. He might not have experienced much love from his mother, but he knew that deep down, he still loves her. He knew that if something like that happened to _his_ mother, he would somehow be upset over it too.

They sat in silence again after that until they heard chattering and sounds of feet coming from the other end of the hallway. Potions was over and it was time for lunch.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other and quickly got up from their spots on the floor. She turned to him and looked up at him with her big and bright cinnamon colored eyes.

"Thank you for being by my side and listening to me today" she said sincerely and gave him a genuine smile.

Draco returned her smile with one of his own, which was very rare at the time, because, well, because he was Draco Malfoy. He didn't smile. He smirked. But I guess there is a first time for everything.

"You're welcome."

And with that, they walked down the hallway and were instantly washed away from each other by a large sea of famished students rushing to get into the Great Hall for lunch.

xxxxxx


End file.
